


Beauty From Pain

by RandomestFandoms



Category: Make It or Break It
Genre: Eating Disorders, Family, Mama Kim Keeler, Papa Mark Keeler, Protective Siblings, awesome keelers, protective Austin, pseudo family, pseudo siblings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-09
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2018-07-22 11:10:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7434717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomestFandoms/pseuds/RandomestFandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Payson Keeler met Austin Tucker when she a child, already recognized as a future Olympian.  Ever since, he has been a big brother to her, an honorary Keeler.  However as she grows up, life gets harder.  Can they get themselves, and each other, through it all?  TW: Eating Disorders</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Confidence in Insecurity

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own the show or the characters, and the story title is from the band Superchick
> 
> Chapter Notes: In this chapter, Austin visits 12 year old Payson in Boulder for the first time, wanting to make sure that The Rock and Marty are right for her.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Austin visits 12 year old Payson in Boulder for the first time, wanting to make sure that The Rock and Marty are right for her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't on anything, blah blah blah

     Payson smiled to herself, standing in the arrival area of the Boulder Municipal Airport.  Her mother was waiting in the car, while her father was home with Becca.  She checked the board again, seeing that yes, the flight had landed, meaning that Austin, travelling domestically with carry on, would be out any moment.  She turned back to the automatic doors, and saw familiar messy hair and bright smile.

     “Austin!”  She squealed, sprinting towards the tall boy.

     “Pay!” He grinned, dropping his duffle in favour of picking up the petite girl and swinging her in a circle.

     “You grew,” she accused, staring up at him.

     “And you didn’t,” he teased, ruffling her hair.  He swung the duffle back over his shoulder, wrapping his free arm around the girl.

     “Mom’s just outside,” she told him, “Dad stayed home with Becca, she’s already asleep.”

     “You should be too, it’s way too late for you.”

     “Aus _tin_ ,” she whined, “it’s only ten!”

     “But you’re only twelve, and you have practice tomorrow.”

     “Do you actually think I would have been able to sleep, knowing that you were landing?”

     “Aw, you’re still the same cutie as last year,” the older boy told her, thinking of the last time he saw her.

     “I am not cute,” she glared.

     “You’re my little sister, of course you’re cute to me.  Don’t worry, I’m sure the judges won’t think so.”

     Payson elbowed him as they got to the car.  Austin nudged her into the backseat while he dropped his duffle and backpack in the passenger seat and sat down next to her.

     “Hey Mama Kim,” he smiled.

     “Hey there Austin, how’s California been treating you?”

     “Oh, it’s great!  They keep me crazy busy but I love it.  It’s gymnastics almost all of the time, but I’ve got this great place near the beach and I’ve been learning to surf in my limited spare time.  You should send Pay to visit sometime, she would love it!” He enthused.  His biological parents didn’t approve of his gymnastics, or excessive lifestyle, hence his emancipation, but the Keelers always wanted to know about his life.

     “That’s great Austin,” Kim smiled at him through the rearview mirror.  “We’d love to send Pay down, but-”

     “But we all want to keep her out of the public eye as much as possible,” Austin finished.  He had been the one to bring that up first.  They tried not to make their sibling-like bond public because Austin was concerned about what it would be like for Payson to be shoved further into the spotlight than she already was.

     Payson spent the rest of the car ride telling Austin about the Rock, Marty, and her new teammates, the boy listening intently.  They pulled into the driveway shortly, Austin getting out to grab his bags.  Mark, having heard them pull in, made his way outside to hug the boy, who was finally hugging Kim.

     “Papa Keeler!” Austin grinned, hugging his pseudo-father. 

     “Hey son,” Mark returned, taking his duffle.  “We haven’t finished setting up your room yet, since we want your opinion, so for now you’ll have to crash in Pay’s, that okay?”

     Austin nodded before tilting his head in confusion, “my room?”

     “Of course, you’re our child too,” Kim reminded him.  “It’s painted already but we wanted you to have a say in the layout and decorations.”  Austin nodded dumbly, struggling to process the idea of having his own room at the Keeler household.

     “Come on!”  Payson tugged his arm impatiently.  “I need to sleep so that I’m ready for training tomorrow!  Becca’s asleep but she has to come to practice too so you’ll see her in the morning.  Yes, you have your own room, you can process that once you’re settled.”

     Austin smiled at her, appreciating her no-nonsense attitude and her ability to know exactly what he was thinking.  He let the tiny blonde lead him to her room, he and Mark dropping his bags on the floor.  He took a moment to look around the purple room, laughing slightly at the motivational posters she had put up.

     “No laughing,” she ordered, already in her pajamas.  “Change, then bed.”  Austin nodded, changing into his sweatpants and climbing under the blankets.  Though most parents would be concerned at letting a young girl share a bed with an older boy, let alone one that she wasn’t related to, the Keelers simply saw it as siblings sharing a bed.

     Austin groaned as the blaring alarm woke him up the next morning.  He reluctantly opened his eyes to see Payson having the same reaction.  As she stumbled out of bed, reaching for her leo, Austin got up.

     “Wait, Pay, before you put that on,” he stopped her, digging through his bag.  “I have something for you.  I didn’t exactly have time to wrap it, but I thought you might like it…?” He trailed off nervously, handing her a purple and green leo.

     “I love it!” She exclaimed, pulling it on right away, while Austin pulled on his own.  “It fits perfectly!”

     “Of course it does, I know your size.  Well, and I double checked with Mama Kim,” he confessed.  Payson grinned at him, pulling on a pair of track pants and one of his old t-shirts.  She left for the kitchen while he finished pulling his own clothes over his leo.  He joined her in the kitchen moments later.

     “Austin!” Becca yelled when she saw him.

     “Hey there Becs,” he lifted her from her chair to hug her.

     “Are you really coming to the Rock today?”

     “Yes I am!  I have to pretend not to know you guys, but I will be taking you for dinner tonight,” he told the small girl, who grinned at him.

     “Mom!  Can we go to the Rock now?” Payson asked, tapping her foot impatiently.

     “Did you even eat?” Austin asked.

     “I had a banana,” Payson told him, facing away as she filled up a large glass of water.  Austin accepted the answer, although he was sure that he would have noticed.  He packed a couple of bananas and a Healthy Bar into his bag, fully intending to make her eat them throughout the day.

     Soon they were piling into the car, with the girls in the back and Austin in the front with Kim.

     “So Austin, I forgot to mention this yesterday, but Mark wants to start teaching you to drive while you’re here.  He figures it’ll be easier if you can drive the girls to practice, and secretly he’s been waiting to teach one of his kids to drive since Pay was born.”  Austin nodded easily, trying to hide how happy he was.

     They pulled into the Rock soon after, and Payson was out of the car before it was fully in park.  They had already agreed that the Keelers would go in before Austin, who would then talk to Marty about Payson, the gym, and the possibility of him training there whenever he was visiting.

     Payson was working with Lauren and Kaylie on their stretches when she heard the whispers begin.  She turned to the doors, knowing that she would see Austin walking in.  He had been too young for the last Olympics, but was already one of the most famous gymnasts in the circuit, a favourite to win in Beijing in a few months.

     Sticking to the act, she rolled her eyes and turned away, going back to her stretches. 

     “Payson!” Lauren hissed excitingly, “That was Austin Tucker!”

     “Oh, yeah,” she said, nonchalant, “Austin’s in town for a bit,” she shrugged.

     “What?” Kaylie screeched.

     “What?” Payson asked, feigning confusion.

     “Austin Tucker, THE Austin Tucker, World Champion and favourite for Beijing is in the Rock!” She whispered, her voice jumping a couple of octaves.

     “So?”

     “God Pay, don’t you understand why this is a big deal?”  Lauren asked, sighing when her teammate shook her head, “hopeless…  Well, I think I’ll go offer to show him the gym.”

     “Payson!” Marty called from the platform outside of his office, “Would you please show Mr. Tucker around?”

     Payson stood, trying not to laugh at Lauren’s expression.  She made her way to the bottom of the stairs, where Austin met her.

     “So, everything good?”

     “Well, I like Marty, and he’s willing to let me train here, and offered to train me himself when I’m here, but I’m getting the full tour from the star of the gym so that I can decide if they deserve you.  He said that afterwards he’d have you and your friends perform your apparatuses for me, since apparently you’re the Nationals’ dream team.”  Payson grinned at him before being hit with a wave of dizziness.  Noticing her slight loss of balance, Austin led her to the water cooler, forcing her to drink.

     “I’m fine,” she insisted.

     “Sure you are.  But you’re having a banana during your first break,” he told her.  She just rolled her eyes, planning to tell him that she hadn’t brought any.

     “Alright, I’ll show you the men’s section first,” she decided, leading him around the foreign territory.  She only went to that side of the gym when they had demonstration days, where the highest level gymnasts would show their routines to the rest of the club. 

     “Alright, I like it.  Now show me your side, that’s what I care about.”

     Payson perked up, heading towards her side of the gym.  She showed him all of the apparatuses, telling him the pros and cons of every single one.

     “It’s pretty good, let’s see what you can do on them.”  Austin nodded at Marty, who was still on his balcony.

     “Alright!” He called out, loud enough for the entire gym to hear, “can I have Lauren, Kaylie, Payson, and Austin at the beam?”  The four complied immediately.  “Girls, I’m sure you know that this is Austin, Austin, these are the girls that I was telling you about.”

     “It’s nice to meet you,” Austin smiled politely, letting them introduce themselves, although he and Payson both struggled to keep a straight face when she did.

     “They’re going to Junior Nationals tomorrow and are predicted to all make the team.  Girls, Austin has agreed to watch your routines and give you some feedback before the meet, so please treat him with respect.”  The girls all nodded easily, and Kaylie made her way to the end of the beam. 

     She started with a leg swing mount, the easiest of the three mounts but fitting Kaylie’s personality.  The rest of her routine was not overly challenging, but her technique was fairly good.  She had a playful air with her, but beam was clearly not her strength.  Her dismount was the equally simple Bohmevora, with only a slight wobble.

     Austin clapped politely.  “I like what I see Kaylie, and I think you’ll definitely place with it, but I think you should try to upgrade your mount, something that the judges won’t forget.”  Kaylie nodded happily, letting Payson take the beam.

     Payson opened with a one-foot mount, which Austin hadn’t known that she was working on.  Her technique was much better than Kaylie’s, almost perfect, and her moves were more challenging, but her personality didn’t come through in the same way.  Austin knew that Payson was never satisfied with her performances, so he understood her focus on technique, but he made a mental note to talk to her about it.  She dismounted with Nellie Kim’s salto tucked with a twist, which was also more impressive than Kaylie’s simple routine.

     “Alright Payson, that was impressive.  Your technique is almost flawless, but you need to let the judges see your personality.  You can’t just have them love the routine, they need to love you,” he advised her, resisting the urge to ruffle her hair.

     Lauren made her way to the beam, completely at ease.  It was clear from the moment she began her straddle L mount that she was in her element, and Austin knew that the attitude would give her an edge.  Her moves were more difficult than either of the other two, and her attitude was sure to get her points.  She dismounted with a Khorkina, which he would not have thought possible for such a young gymnast.

     “Lauren, I’m not going to lie, that was incredible.  I absolutely understand why judges call you the Queen of the Beam.  You’re so comfortable and that gives you an advantage, but you need to tighten up your technique.”  The blonde smiled at him, accepting the advice.  Marty gave them a break, telling them to meet him at the bars in ten minutes. 

     “So, I’ve heard that you girls are the dream team,” he told the girls, handing a banana to Payson while the other two were distracted by the praise.  She glared at him but reluctantly took a bite.  “How would you girls feel about going to dinner with me tonight?  I hear there are a few good places that serve the food we can actually eat,” he laughed.

     “I don’t know,” Payson sighed, “I have to look after my little sister tonight.”

     “Bring her with you,” he offered.

     “I’ll ask my parents,” she conceded, smirking at him.

     “I can go, I just need to ask Daddy to bring me a change of clothes,” Lauren beamed.

     “Same for me, we can talk to our parents over lunch, we should get some water before we meet Marty,” Kaylie pointed out.

     The four made their way to the cooler to get some water before heading to the bars.  Austin was most excited for that apparatus, knowing that it was Payson’s best.  The girls showed off the rest of their apparatuses before Marty called lunch.  The girls all went to talk about their parents, telling Austin to pull on some clothes so that they could bring him to Spruce Juice.  He nodded easily, and was leaning against the outer wall of the gym when the girls came out, each in track pants and a jacket over their leos.

     Payson refused a juice, insisting that she was full.  The girls accepted her excuse easily, but Austin still shoved a Healthy Bar and another banana at her, claiming that he was going to have them but if she wasn’t having a drink, she needed the energy.  She glared at him but ate anyways, not wanting to raise any warning bells.  The group made their way back to the gym, where Marty told the girls to work on Austin’s suggestions while he watched Austin’s routines.  The girls didn’t see him again until the end of practice, all focused on their own training and never crossing paths at the chalk or the cooler.  Austin did keep an eye on Payson, worried about her previous dizziness, although she seemed fine.

     After their dismissal, Austin changed into his jeans and was once again waiting for the girls to change.  When they emerged, he barely noticed Kaylie, Lauren, or Becca, focussing entirely on Payson’s white dress and pink cardigan, amused by how uncomfortable she looked.

     Payson led the group to the nearest restaurant, conveniently one that had a menu that catered specifically to the gymnasts’ diet, making it a favourite.  They sat around, eating and laughing, until Payson dismissed herself.  She returned a few minutes later, looking pale and shaky, sitting down to gulp her glass of water.  Austin filed her behaviour away to examine later, not wanting to confront her in front of the others.  Aside from Payson’s aparent discomfort, and therefore Austin’s concern, the dinner continued pleasantly until Lauren and Kaylie had to leave.  The Keeler group waited a few minutes before leaving as well, walking back to the Keeler household, all of them heading straight to bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please let me know what you think, and what you'd like to see moving forward!  
> Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/A2544BQY


	2. I Don’t Know the First Time I Felt Unbeautiful

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four years after the last chapter, Sasha Belov is allowing Ronnie Cruz to put together a Mother Daughter Fashion Show, so naturally Austin has to come to “support” Payson- or at least, to laugh at her frustration. Chapter title comes from Superchick’s Courage.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Payson Keeler met Austin Tucker when she a child, already recognized as a future Olympian. Ever since, he has been a big brother to her, an honorary Keeler. However, as she grows up, life gets harder. Can they get themselves, and each other, through it all? TW: Eating Disorders  
> Disclaimer: yeah I still don’t own anything

     “No, Austin, you don’t get it!  Sasha Belov is completely insane!  Nationals are just around the corner and instead of focusing on our training he wants us to do sum dumb fashion show!  Wait, no, he wants me to “consider is a part of my training.”  He’s insane!” Payson ranted into her phone.

     “Yeah Pay, I know, you’ve only mentioned it half a dozen times in the past hour,” Austin teased.

     “You wouldn’t be laughing if you had to sacrifice training for something like this.  I already feel enough like the Pillsbury Dough Boy next to the other girls, I don’t need this stupid fashion show proving it to everyone else.”

     “Just breathe, Pay,” Austin coached her.  “You’re gorgeous, you’ll look great, and you can drag your mom down with you.”

     Payson laughed, “yeah, I guess you’re right.”

     “I’m always right.  I have to go now, but we’ll talk during your lunch break tomorrow,” he promised.

     “Thanks Aus.  I love you, talk to you tomorrow.”

     “Anytime Pay, I love you too,” Austin said before they both ended the call.

     “So Pay, how’s Austin?” Kim asked when her daughter joined the rest of the family in the kitchen.

     “Enjoying the hell out of the situation, for one.  Cali’s good, he’s suggesting that I come visit after Nationals for some PR… He thinks that he should have a break to come up and visit sometime before Nationals-”

     “Do you guys talk about anything other than gymnastics?” Becca asked, raising an eyebrow.

     “Yes!” Payson told her defensively, “I mean…  usually… not today?”

     “I’m teasing you, Pay,” Becca laughed.

     “I hate you,” Payson grinned, hugging her sister.  “Mom, I think I’m going to go for a run then crash since we’re losing workout time for this show.”  Kim nodded, albeit hesitantly, and the blonde was out the door before she could change her mind.

     More than two hours had passed before Payson re-entered the house, sweaty and panting.  The kitchen was clean and empty by then, but the sound of the TV let her know where everyone is.  Deciding not to interact, Payson went straight to the bathroom and showered before going to her room and straight to bed.  She woke up earlier than usual the next morning.  She filled up her largest water bottle, as usual, and left a sticky note on the counter as she left.

_Mom,_

_Don’t worry, I’m fine.  I went to the Rock early to make up for the lost training time._

_Love you,_

_Pay_

When Payson got to the Rock, she slowed her jog into a walk, seeing that Sasha was only just leaving his trailer.  She forced herself to maintain the slower pace, making it to the door just as Sasha unlocked it.

     “I have to say, Keeler, I normally wouldn’t unlock this early but I had a feeling that you’d be here,” he told her.

     “Well since _someone_ is cancelling training for a stupid fundraiser, I need to make up the time,” she retorted, earning a laugh from the man.

     “Well, since I had to get up before the crack of dawn for you, what do you say to working on upgrading your Tsukahara to a one and a half twist?” Sasha offered, already headed to the annex.

     “Are you serious?  Of course!”

     Sasha smirked, shooing her to the changing rooms.  He checked the phone in his office while he waited, making a note to call Austin Tucker back when his elites were preparing for the show.  He left his office when he saw Payson return to the floor in her leotard, with a large bottle of water.

     “Smart,” he acknowledged, nodding at the bottle.

     “The water cooler is more of a social place than somewhere to just get water, and I need to focus on training, not whatever drama is going on,” Payson defended herself.

     “That wasn’t sarcasm,” he reassured her, “if Ms. Cruz or Ms. Tanner spent half as much time training as getting water, you might have something to worry about.”

     “Well then I’m safe,” she teased as they made their way to the pit. 

     She leaned against the vault when they stopped, trying to control the wave of dizziness with water.

     “Payson?” Sasha asked, looking at her carefully.

     “I’m fine,” she smiled, setting her water bottle to the side.  “Are we starting on the tramp?”  Sasha raised an eyebrow at the pointless question and she tilted her head in acknowledgement, going through her stretches before climbing on.

     “Alright, show me your full twist,” he told her.

     He had her repeat the full twist until he could not spot a single flaw, no separated legs, no crossed ankles, nothing.  He then had her repeat it on the vault until she reached the same degree of perfection, before allowing her to attempt the extra half on the trampoline.  Once she had reached the same degree of perfection as her full twist, he had her practice in the pit with the wires.  He continued to drill her to perfection without the wires before determining that other gymnasts would likely be arriving soon, since they only had a half day of training.

     “You’re doing great Payson; I’ll have to see it out there before I dismiss you for the fashion show.”

     “That’s not motivating me to work on it,” she reminded him.

     “How’s this: if you can present it for me, almost competition ready, before you leave, then we’ll meet tomorrow, at the same time as today, to get you your front pike salto.”

     “So you’re bribing me with more fancy tricks?”

     “Consider it a reward for suffering through Ronnie Cruz’s crusade.”

     “You’re on,” she smirked, using the wall for support as she drank more water.

     She made her way back to the main gym just as the other three elite girls were leaving the changing rooms.

     “Pay?  What are you doing here so early?”  Kaylie asked, starting on her stretches.

     “I got here early.  Sasha and I have been working on upgrading my Tsukahara to a one and a half twist.”

     “Are you serious?” Emily asked.

     “Well, yeah.  He said he had wanted to work on it with me but wasn’t going to let me out of the stupid show to train, so now as long as I keep arriving early I can work on it.”

     “Does he have any more plans for you?” Lauren asked jealously.

     “Not that I know of, he just told me to have this almost competition ready before dismissal,” she lied easily.

     “Well then I guess you have dibs on vault.  I need to work on my bars,” Emily told them, standing up and walking to the chalk.

     “See you later,” Payson said, heading to the vault.  She closed her eyes briefly, trying to will away the spots in her vision.  She couldn’t afford to be the slightest bit out of it or Sasha would probably make her go back to the pit.  She opened her eyes again, focusing only on the springboard and the vault, visualising her move one last time before taking off at a sprint.  Her Tsukahara itself was almost perfect, just the slightest break in her legs, but she lost her balance on the blind landing, falling on her ass.

     “Keeler, do it again!” Sasha called from his balcony, dialling Austin’s number.

     Shaking herself off, she went back to the start.  This time, she focused on just visualising the landing, before taking off again.  She landed on her feet but lost her balance, sending her to the floor once again.  She tried one more time, losing her balance once again, before trading with Emily.  She ran through her bar routine a few times to clear her head, and then they traded back.  She lost her balance one more time, stopping to drink water before starting again. 

     _“Don’t think, Pay.  Your body knows what to do, just let it happen,”_ she could hear Austin telling her, the same advice she’d been hearing since he first watched her. 

     For one of the first times, she listened to his advice.  Instead of visualizing, she took a moment to shake out her limbs, loosen her ankles, and broke into a sprint.  Her Tsukahara was perfect, and although she wobbled quite a lot, she stayed on her feet for the landing.  She turned to the office to see if Sasha was watching, but he was on her phone.  All the better, she decided, this way she could fix the landing before he saw it.  Before she knew it, hours had passed, only her aching muscles and improved landing to show for it.

     “Alright Keeler, show me what you’ve got,” Sasha told her, coming down the stairs.

     Payson nodded easily, drinking some more water before returning to the line for the umpteenth time.  She broke into the sprint, though her knee seemed to object, and before she knew it, she had landed, with only a slight hop.

     “Well done Payson,” he told her, as the other girls went to the changing rooms.  “You’ve earned yourself a front pike salto, tomorrow morning.”  She grinned brilliantly at him, before going to change.  They had a lunch break before Ronnie was going to tell them their themes, but Payson wanted to maximise her time on the phone with Austin.

     “Pay, are you coming?” Kaylie asked as she, Lauren, and Emily were leaving for Spruce Juice.

     “No thanks, I’ve got some food with me,” she claimed.  As soon as they left, she lay down on the grass outside of the gym, using her bag as a pillow, and called Austin.

     “Hey Pay,” he greeted.

     “Hey Aus!”

     “How’s the torture treating you?”

     “We don’t start until after lunch, when Mrs. Cruz will be telling us our ‘themes’,” she sighed.  “I’ve been training all morning.”

     “Mama Kim mentioned that, she was worried about how early you left.”

     “It was fine,” she promised, “I went to bed pretty early, and Sasha was already unlocking the gym anyways.  Oh!  He’s working on some upgrades with me, I can’t wait to show you!”

     “I can’t wait either, you’ll have to give me some hints later.  Have you eaten yet?” He asked.

     “Not yet, the girls are grabbing me a juice, but I’m going to drink that during the meeting.  Maybe if I slurp obnoxiously enough, Mrs. Cruz will give up?”

     “As if, that woman is almost as stubborn as you.”

     “Yeah, well she’s not going to get me to make a fool of myself next to all of the Barbie dolls,” Payson scoffed, making a mental note to weigh herself before bed.

     “Pay, you won’t make a fool of yourself, you’re just as gorgeous as your teammates, maybe even more.”

     “You’re my brother, you have to say that,” she countered.

     “That doesn’t mean it’s not true.”

     “Whatever you say,” Payson sighed.  “Crap, the girls are already back, I’ll call you tonight,” she promised.  “Love you!”

     “Love you too Pay, I’ll talk to you tonight.”

     She hung up, stuffing her phone into her pocket before the girls got to her, finishing off her water instead.

     “Alright Pay, you ready for this?” Lauren asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

     “Yeah, about as ready as I am to shoot myself in the foot,” she groaned, standing up anyways.

     “Oh come on, it’ll be fun!” Kaylie tried to tell her.  The girls piled into Kaylie’s car, seeing as she drove everyone except Payson, and sat in silence until they reached the Cruz mansion.  Kaylie and Lauren were both on the verge of bouncing in their seats, while Payson and Emily were slouched down with their arms and legs crossed, mirroring each other perfectly.

     “Alright girls, who’s ready to get started?” Ronnie cheered.  “Tanners will be doing business casual and trip to the mall, Kmetkos will be doing dressy and golf-wear, Keelers will be doing red carpet and beach day, Kaylie and I will be doing urban safari and All That Glitters,” Ronnie listed.  “Payson, Kim, I pulled a few items aside for you.” 

     Kaylie and Lauren forced Payson off of the couch, shoving her in the direction of the two moms. 

     “Alright, Kim, you are absolutely wearing this,” Ronnie said, shoving a purple dress at her.

     “Oh, I don’t-”

     “The plum chiffon will look stunning on you,” Ronnie cut her off, “I won’t be taking no for an answer.  Pay, I pulled aside a few dresses for you before we focus on beachwear.”  Try these,” she told the blonde, handing her a few dresses and forcing her behind the dividers into a makeshift dressing room.

     The first dress she pulled on was purple, though so were all of the others.  It was a strapless chiffon number, strapless, cutting off mid-thigh.  The top of the dress clung to her body, but the bottom was flowy, twirling around her when she turned.

     “I look ridiculous,” she complained, trying not to look in the mirror.

     “Just come out Pay,” Lauren tried.  The three girls were waiting to support her, knowing how awkward she felt dressing up.

     She left the partitions, arms crossed firmly over her chest.  Kaylie and Emily each pulled one arm away so that they could see the dress.

     “It’s perfect, Pay, you have to wear it!” Kaylie insisted.

     “Oh, I have the perfect jewelry for this,” Ronnie told them.

     “Um actually… I have a necklace that I want to wear with this…”

     “Is it your normal one?” Ronnie asked, eyeing the P shaped charm on her necklace.

     “No…  It’s the Tiffany’s platinum infinity diamond necklace,” Payson recited.

     “You have one of those?” Lauren exclaimed.

     “Um yeah…”  Payson shrugged, trying to divert the attention.

     “That’s perfect!  I’ll grab earrings and shoes for you.  Everyone that’s not a Keeler, go find your own outfits!  Kay, I’ll be with you soon, start looking,” Ronnie ordered.  Once everyone had scattered, she turned back to the duo.  “Alright, so Kim, for beachwear, I’m thinking simple flip flops, a cute tankini, and a cover-up dress,” Ronnie told her, leaving no room for arguing.  “Pay, I found a strapless plum bikini top for you, which you’ll be wearing with high waisted shorts, an open white cover-up, and wedges, with sunglasses on your head.”

     “Mrs. Cruz, I really don’t feel comfortable in a bikini,” Payson tried to tell her.

     “Nonsense, you’ll look great,” she insisted, walking away before they could argue.

     “Alright mom, we have the outfits, can I head back to the gym before Sasha locks up?” Payson asked, crossing her arms over her stomach.

     “Go for it, you need the distraction.  But if Sasha’s already locking up, don’t ask him to let you in.”  Payson nodded, leaving the house as fast as she could.  If Sasha was gone, she would just jog the mountain until the approximate end of dinner.  Luckily for her, the gym was still open when she arrived, so she pulled off her track clothes and headed straight for the bars.  She nodded at Sasha when he noticed her, but wanted to clear her head before talking to him.  She did giants until she was dizzy, letting her dismount be just as simple.  The dizziness had not faded, as she expected it would, so she sat on the edge of the mat with her water.

     “Rough day?” Sasha asked, taking a seat next to her.

     “Not only do I have to waste my time with this stupid fashion show, but now Ronnie expects me to do it in a damn bikini,” Payson told him.

     Sasha bit back a laugh at her, frankly adorable, pout.  “Do it for the front pike salto?” He offered.

     “Only if you get me more water?” She tried.  He couldn’t resist laughing that time, and took the bottle from her.  Everyone else had left the gym, so he saw no harm in indulging her. 

     He handed it to her as he sat.  “If I’m going to continue bribing you with upgrades, what do you want next?”

     She thought for a moment.  “Double layout half out,” she decided, punctuating the statement with a gulp of water and a nod.

     He laughed, “as you wish.  It’s getting late, you should get home before your mom kills me for keeping you from dinner.”  Payson nodded agreeably, pulling on the clothes she had dumped at the wall.  She walked out with him, but rather than heading home, she set off towards the mountain.  She did the full up and down three times, slowing to a jog on her third descent.  She had transitioned into a walk by the time she was on the sidewalk, pulling out her phone to call Austin again.

     “Ronnie Cruz is the most insane human I have ever met!  She wants me to wear a bikini- a _bikini_ \- for this thing!”

     “Breathe, Pay, breathe.”

     “Sorry…  It’s just…  Like…  Why can’t I do business casual and Lauren do the beach?”

     “I don’t know, sweetie, she didn’t exactly tell me.”  Payson rolled her eyes, stopping to catch her breath.

     “I just…  I feel weird about it.  People don’t look at me like they look at Lauren, or Kaylie, or even Emily.  I’m not sexy, I’m not girly, that’s not who I am, and trying to force it is just going to make it more obvious,” she explained, stopping to catch her breath.

     “You’re right, you’re not sexy, but you’re beautiful, Pay.  You’re absolutely beautiful, and everyone sees it.  How about you tell me about your upgrades instead?” He offered.

     “I want to surprise you with them,” she confessed.  “but I just got home, so I’m going to crash soon.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”

     “Of course, sweetie.  I love you.”

     “Love you too, big brother.”  Payson whispered, hanging up.  She ignored her parents’ and Becca’s questions when she got in, choosing to hop in the shower, barely managing to pull on pajamas and set her alarm before she crashed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think! Also, I'm looking for ship suggestions right now!  
> Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/A2544BQY


	3. 99 Pounds of Some Kind of Dynamite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fashion show is finally here, along with Austin himself. Sasha continues to bribe Payson with upgrades, and Payson continues to feel like the Hulk onstage. Where's Emily and why are people talking about Denver all of a sudden?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: this chapter will regularly touch on the effects of an eating disorder  
> Chapter title comes from 99 Pounds by The Monkees

Once again, Payson woke up before her alarm, turning it off before it could wake her family.  Just like the day before, she was dressed and out the door, duffle and water bottle in hand, before the sun was up.  She jogged to the gym, reaching the door just as Sasha left his trailer.

     “Front pike salto today, right?” he asked, unlocking the door.  Payson just nodded, hurrying to the side of the gym to drop her bag and clothes, following her coach into the Annex.  She didn’t wait for instructions before beginning her stretches, only looking up when she was done.

     She took a sip of water before climbing onto the tramp, where Sasha was waiting.  Much like the previous day, he had her repeat her previous mount, a round off flic flac, to perfection before allowing her to attempt the upgrade.  They spent a few hours working on it before they had to return to the main gym.  Payson grabbed her duffle, shoving her clothes in, and went to the changing rooms, where the other elites were preparing.

     “Pay!  What are you doing here so early?” Kaylie asked.

     “Sasha and I are working on another upgrade, to make up for the time we’re losing.”

     “What is it now?” Lauren asked, not quite pulling off the casual tone she wanted.

     “Just a front pike salto,” Payson told them, returning to the floor before they could comment.  She spent close to an hour working on the low beam, making sure that there wasn’t the slightest wobble, and then moved over to the proper beam.  She worked through the mount a dozen times before moving over to the uneven bars.  She ran through her routine a few times, trying to figure out what she could upgrade, and returned to the beam to practice her full routine with the new mount.  Before she knew it, Sasha was dismissing the elite girls to go for more fashion show work.

     “Let’s see what you’ve got,” he told her, once the other girls had left.  She showed him just the mount, once, and then the full routine.  “Well, I think you’ve earned your double layout half out.  You’d better start thinking of your bars’ upgrade-”

     “Double salto forward tucked with a half twist.”

     “Another blind landing?  As you wish,” he grinned, shooing her to the changing rooms.

     “So what’s today’s plan?” She asked the other girls, who were still getting changed.

     “Hair and makeup,” Lauren said with a grin.

     “Oh joy…  Alright, well I have a couple of things to do, so I’ll meet you at Kaylie’s,” Payson told them, as they walked out of the gym.  Payson headed for the grass again, while the others left in the direction of Spruce Juice.

     As always, as soon as she was comfortable on the grass, Payson called Austin.

     “Hey Pay.”

     “Hey Aus!  How are you?”

     “I’m good, but training is killing me.  I can’t wait for my days off.  How bout you?”

     “Well, I want to kill Ronnie Cruz, but Sasha’s bribing me with upgrades.”

     “Are you going to tell me about them?”

     “Not until I can show you,” she promised.

     “Austin!  Break’s over!” A voice yelled.

     “Crap, I’m sorry Pay, that’s my coach.  He wants me to get in extra training before my time off,” Austin apologized.

     “That’s alright, training is important.  I’ll try to call you tonight.  I love you Aus.”

     “I love you too, Pay.”

     As she hung up, Payson noticed the time and cringed.  It was almost time for the fashion show torture.  She jammed her earbuds in a took off running, reaching the house with just minutes to spare.

     “Oh, there you are Payson.  Perfect, now we can get started.”  The girls sat quietly on the couch, all of them on their phones, while Ronnie told the volunteer hairdressers exactly what she wanted for each of their looks.  “Alright, I want mothers first, for a practice round,” she announced eventually, each mother sitting in the same chairs as a salon.

     It took a long while before it was the girls’ turn, and Payson was far beyond frustrated.

     “So why did we have to sit and wait when we could have been training for Nationals?” She asked, taking some pleasure in Ronnie’s inability to answer.  Her mood didn’t improve when her hair was getting done, and as soon as she was finished, she was out the door, heading straight to the gym.  She ran her vault half a dozen times, and her beam a dozen, before going to the bars to do her giants.  Her dismount was simple, but she lost her balance, too dizzy to spot herself.

     “Maybe you shouldn’t have done quite so many,” Sasha teased, leaving his office to join her.

     “Probably not,” she laughed, willing herself to believe it.

     “Better or worse than yesterday?”

     “Better, but we spent at least two hours just waiting so I don’t know why I couldn’t be training instead of sitting on a couch.”

     “I have no idea, I have no desire to understand the mind of Ronnie Cruz.”  They both laughed, and Payson took a sip of water, trying to fight off the spots in her vision.  They talked through her floor upgrade, mapping out where exactly to place it, and then Sasha sent her home, though she chose to run for a couple of hours first.  She arrived home fairly early, as she had since the start of the fashion show.  She checked her phone when she emerged from the shower, seeing a text from Austin.

_Hey sis, Coach is calling a 24hr lock in so ill call you tmrw, ily <3 _

     With no more reason to stay awake, Payson played her floor music and went to sleep.

     She woke up early the next morning and, as always, got dressed and headed straight for the Rock.  When she arrived, Sasha was sitting outside of his trailer eating breakfast, waving her over.

     “And here I thought you rolled out of bed and went straight to the gym,” she teased, sitting down.

     “I have a reputation to uphold,” he retorted, handing her a banana, “here, eat.”

     “I already ate on my way here, if I eat anymore I’ll be too full to flip,” she claimed, avoiding his eyes.

     He raised an eyebrow, “I highly doubt that one banana will kill you.  Eat.”  He pushed the banana to her, staring her down until she ate.  “There you go, I’m just going to clean up, get started on your stretches,” he ordered, tossing her the keys.  She nodded easily, dropping her bag in the locker room and going through her warmup, finishing up just after he entered the gym.  As usual, they started in the annex, practicing repeatedly on the tramp, then in the pit with wires, before finally removing the wires.  She had run it ten times without the wires when Sasha decided that they needed to leave the Annex.  Not wanting to talk to her teammates, Payson headed straight to the floor to practice, eventually building up to incorporating it into her routine.

     “Was that a double layout half out?” Lauren asked, as Payson walked by her to the beam.

     “Yep, it’s today’s project,” Payson told her, not stopping to talk.  She didn’t want to answer the inevitable string of questions, so she set up the springboard and mounted the beam.  She did a full round of all of her routines before returning to work on her floor upgrades.  With Austin in lock in, she had no need for a break, and stayed behind during lunch to show her routine to Sasha, first with just the upgrade, and then the entire routine.  He had her run it twice to improve her connectivity, and then dismissed her with a smile.  Her teammates had all left, so she didn’t get to find out what Ronnie wanted to have them doing until she was already at the Cruz mansion.

     “Learning to walk in heels,” Emily groaned.

     “Wait, are you kidding me?”  Emily shook her head, nodding towards Kaylie and Lauren, already trying on all sorts of shoes. 

     “Payson!  Perfect, I have the perfect shoes for you,” Ronnie exclaimed, dragging the blonde over to her mother.  She was handed a pair of wedges first, wooden with white straps.  She put them on reluctantly, taking a second to balance herself before walking. 

     “I’m a gymnast, if I can balance on a four-inch beam, I think I can manage some heels,” she rolled her eyes.

     “Then I guess you’ll have no problem with these,” Ronnie said, handing her another pair of shoes.

     “Oh my god, are those Louboutains?” Lauren shrieked, looking at the open toed nude pump.

     “Yes they are, I pulled aside a pair for your business casual,” Ronnie told her.

     Ignoring their conversation, Payson strapped on the shoes.  They must have been at least five and a half inches, she realized, adjusting her center of gravity.

     “Yeah, I can walk in both, can I go now?” She asked, one hand on her hip.  Ronnie shooed her off, so Payson took off the shoes and went back to the gym.  Thanks to her early escape, Payson arrived at the gym while people were still training.  Taking advantage of the lack of elite girls, Payson did a continuous rotation until the gym emptied out, occasionally stopping to help some juniors, at which point she did her usual cooldown on the bars.  Spots danced in her eyes, her vision blurring.  She could feel her grip weakening, unable to catch herself.  She braced herself for the hard impact of the floor, but it never came.  She opened her eyes, seeing a familiar blond.

     “Payson?  What happened?”  Sasha asked, setting her down on the mat, handing over her water bottle.

     “I don’t know, I just got dizzy.”

     “When was the last time you ate?”

     “The banana you gave me, I ran out of time for lunch.”

     Sasha nodded, lost in thought.  “I’m going to call your mother, ask if you can stay in my trailer.  For some reason I feel like you don’t go straight home when you leave, and you need a decent meal and some rest.”  Payson tried to protest, mostly about the meal, but it was pointless.  While Sasha left to make the call, Payson grabbed her phone and texted Austin.

_Hey bro, Sasha’s worried bc I got dizzy doing giants so im crashing in his trailer, wont be able to call- talk to you tmrw ily_

She knew that Austin would be concerned, but he would be worse if she didn’t give an explanation.

     “Alright, she said it’s fine, she’s going to drop off clothes for you,” Sasha told her, exiting his office.  Payson nodded, pouting, but let him lead her to the trailer, sending her to shower while he made dinner.  She was towelling off her hair, dressed in the large t-shirt and sweatpants he was lending her, when Sasha told her that dinner was ready.  Rather reluctantly, she ate the salmon he served her.  Her mom arrived partway through dinner to drop off a leo and a change of clothes for the next day, and Payson went to bed as soon as she was done eating.  Sasha insisted that she take the bed, setting himself up on the couch.

     She woke up the next morning, taking in her surroundings.  _‘Oh,’_ she realized, _‘I’m at Sasha’s.’_   She got herself ready, the same way she would at home, going outside to sit with him while he ate.

     “I already ate inside,” she lied, when he handed her a granola bar and banana.

     “Payson, you fell yesterday because you hadn’t eaten enough.  If you don’t eat these, we won’t be training your double salto forward tucked.”  Almost immediately, Payson started eating.  She did her warmup on his lawn while he cleaned up, and they went to the annex.  Their practice was the same as always, though she was already on the main bars when the elites arrived.  She paid them no mind, repeating her routine until she thought it was almost perfect, and then took her break.

     “Hey Pay-Pay,” Austin greeted, answering on the first ring.

     “Hey!  How was lock in?”

     “Boring, as always.  Are you ready to show me your upgrades?”

     “Not until you can see them in person, remember?”

     “I know, I know.  Do me a favour?”

     “Always.”

     “Stretch your arms up.”

     “What?”

     “Trust me?”

     “Always.”  Payson did as he asked, squealing when strong arms wrapped around her waist.

     “So, are you ready?” Austin asked.

     “Austin!”  Payson grinned, hanging up the phone.

     “Surprise!  I wanted to support you tomorrow.”

     “You mean you wanted to laugh at me?”

     “Well, only a little,” he teased, setting the blonde back on the ground.  He shoved her towards the door, following as soon as the door closed behind her.  He tried to ignore the whispers, heading straight to Sasha.

     “Coach Belov,” he greeted politely.

     “Mr. Tucker, I take it you’re here for the show?”

     “Well, first and foremost I’m here to thank you for taking care of Pay yesterday, but yes, that too.  Though I wanted to ask, could I see your elite girls doing their Nationals routines?”

     “You heard about Payson’s upgrades, didn’t you?”  Both men laughed, and Sasha whistled, silencing the gym.  “Alright, ladies and gentlemen.  Austin Tucker will be training here for the next few days, please respect his space, as you would with anyone training here.  Could my elite girls come here?”  Payson, Kaylie, and Lauren were standing at the base of the staircase before he finished speaking, Emily following a few paces behind.

     “Full round?” Kaylie asked.

     “Aw, you remember,” Austin teased.  Turning to Emily, he tilted his head, “Emily Kmetko, right?”

     “Yeah…  It’s nice to meet you.”

     “You too.  Since we haven’t met before, and the girls aren’t being very helpful,” all three rolled their eyes, “I come and train here sometimes, and it’s a tradition that as soon as I arrive, they show me their routines so that I can offer feedback.  As the newest elite girl, you’re a part of the tradition now.”  Emily nodded, dazed.

     “Vault first?”  Lauren asked, already halfway to the vault with Payson and Kaylie before the two men nodded.

     Lauren went first, as always, with a handspring half twist to tuck back salto.

     “Nice!  That’s a serious upgrade since last time I saw you.  You’re still lacking height, try to get your sprint faster so that you have the power coming off the springboard.”  Lauren nodded, letting Emily take her turn.  Emily took to the line, still shocked by Lauren’s easy acceptance of his criticisms.  Her straight Yurshenko was not nearly as impressive, but Austin was still able to offer her positive feedback, emphasizing on her need for control.  Kaylie followed, her front tuck salto with a one and a half twist being the best yet, and Austin had very little advice to offer, just to watch out for her ankles crossing.  No one was surprised that Payson’s new Tsukahara one and a half was the best, and Austin couldn’t help but clap.

     “Nice job Payson, but keep an eye out, your legs split.”  Payson nodded, knowing that he would have more feedback when they were home.

     They moved onto floor, where all of their feedback had to do with connectivity and performance, and soon they were at the bars.  Emily started them off, and Payson felt a little bad.  Emily was not good at bars, Austin noticed.  She lacked the control, and most of her moves belonged in junior nationals.  He managed to give her positive feedback nonetheless, but encouraged her to try harder moves, claiming that it was only a lack of confidence holding her back.  The other three were significantly better, although it was clear that, though they were Payson’s strength, they were the others’ weakness.  They finished with beam, as always, and Austin was incredibly impressed to realize that Payson’s DOD matched Lauren’s, which it never had before.  The girls left for a tech rehearsal, and Austin joined Sasha in the office to discuss the routines.  Once they had talked through all of them, Austin headed to the floor to get in some of his own practice.

     He left the Rock as Sasha was locking up, a worried Kim Keeler meeting him at the door.

     “What’s wrong Mama Kim?” He asked.

     “Isn’t Pay with you?  She usually heads to the gym as soon as I let her leave.”

     “No, but I think I know where to find her.”  Austin went to his room, changing into civilian clothes before hopping in Kim’s car.  He drove straight to the studio where the show would be and, as he predicted, Payson was slouched in one of the chairs, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

     The door slammed shut and the blonde turned, relaxing when she saw who it was. 

     “What, no hug for your favourite big brother?” Austin called out, opening his arms as he walked towards her.

     She stood, burying her face in his chest.  “Do I have to do this?”

     Austin sat down, pulling her onto his lap.  “What’s really going on here, Pay?”

     Payson stood up, and opened her arms, allowing Austin to finally see her strapless purple bikini top.  “This is what’s going on, Aus!  I’m on a team of goddamn Barbie dolls and Ronnie decides to put _me_ in the damn bikini!  I already look awkward enough next to them, she doesn’t need to make a show of it!” As soon as he noticed the tears, Austin tried to pull Payson back into his arms, but she stepped back.  “They’re all so tiny and pretty and graceful and I look like the Hulk compared to them.”

     Austin had her back in his arms before the sobs began, running a hand through her hair.  “Pay-Pay, you don’t look like the Hulk.  You don’t see the way boys look at you, but I do, I saw it even today.  You’re beautiful and boys notice you, I think you just don’t notice them.  You’re not as sexy as Lauren, or as pretty as Kaylie, but you’re so much more gorgeous than either of them.  It’s a good thing I came, since I’ll have to beat your suitors away with a stick.”  Payson giggled, pulling away from Austin to smile at him. 

     “Do you really mean that?”

     “Of course I mean it, here, I’ll prove it,” he promised, pushing her up on stage.  He started up the music, an unfamiliar song bursting out of the speakers.  Listening to the opening lyrics, he decided that they conveyed his message, so he hopped on stage to join Payson.

     “What are we doing?” She asked.

     “We’re having fun!  We’re not elites right now, we’re just teenagers being ridiculous,” he grabbed her hand, twirling her.  They goofed around on the stage for the duration of the song, at which point Austin turned back to the girl seriously.  “Feeling better, Pay?”

     She nodded.  “I just want to go to sleep, Aus.  I’m so tired, I’ve barely slept since they announced this stupid thing.” 

She did seem spaced out, leaning against him heavily.  The older boy picked her up in a bridal carry, bringing her to Kim’s car and laying her in the back.  He pulled into the Keeler driveway, and picked up the sleeping girl, changing her into her pajamas and tucking her into bed.

     Austin did not sleep well that night, too worried about Payson.  Between her passing out at the gym recently, her anxiety about the show, and how light she was when he carried her to bed, he couldn’t help but assume the worst.

     He woke up the next morning to a mostly silent house.  He left his room to take a shower but, seeing that the bathroom was occupied, he made himself breakfast first.  Soon he heard the bathroom door open and saw Payson emerge, already in her leo with her bun perfectly in place.

     “Pay, it’s the asscrack of dawn, why are you already up?”

     “Because the stupid show is tonight and we have dress rehearsal all day so I need time to train and then shower,” she sighed.

     “Well if you can hold out for a couple of minutes while I shower, I can give you a ride and you can save time.”  Payson nodded at the offer, shooing him off towards the bathroom.  True to his word, Austin had a quick shower, pulling on his workout clothes before rejoining Payson.

     “Are you going to have breakfast?” He asked, towelling his hair.

     She turned to the water cooler to fill up her bottle, “I ate while you were showering.”

     He rolled his eyes at the back of her head, “alright, but I’m bringing some snacks for you to eat before your rehearsal.  I don’t want you getting dizzy and falling offstage in your deathtraps.”  Payson forced a laugh, leaving the house to sit on the back of his spare bike, which lived in the Keeler garage.  Austin joined her, climbing on and letting her wrap her arms around his waist.

     They pulled up to the empty parking lot, the open door being the only sign that Sasha had unlocked it.  He joined them on the floor, getting each of them to run all of their routines while the he and whoever wasn’t performing gave feedback.  Payson had to leave much earlier than she would have liked, eating Austin’s Healthy Bar and smoothie, before going home to shower. 

     She pulled on track pants and a tank top, getting in the car with her mother.  They drove to the Kruz mansion to pick up their outfits, before driving to the studio.  They, along with the other mother-daughter duos pulled on their first outfits.  They had to practice walking down the runway repeatedly, until the sound, tech, and walks were all perfect.  By the time they were done, Payson was all too happy to change into her own clothes.  She went to the gym, heading straight for the bars.  She didn’t think twice about her clothing, just kicked off her sneakers and mounted.  She hadn’t noticed how empty the gym was until she landed, everyone having left to get ready to go the fashion show.

     “Payson?  Shouldn’t you be getting ready for the big night?” Sasha asked, as he and Austin exited his office.

     “Not yet, I left as soon as I could, so I’ve got a bit of time before I have to go home.”

     “Look at it this way,” he offered, “the sooner it starts, the sooner you’re done, and then we can move onto more upgrades.”

     “No more for your bars.  You’re DOD must be way higher than Parker’s already, you’re the best on bars, and we don’t want to mess up your back,” Austin told her.

     Payson rolled her eyes, “Yes, _Coach,_ but I get a free aerial round off on beam, I need to have a higher DOD than Lauren.”  Both men nodded, relieved that she hadn’t argued about bars.  They had discussed it while she was at rehearsal, her back would be too much of a risk factor and they wanted to get it checked after Nationals anyways.  They would also be careful with vaults, because of her knee, but they knew she cared more about upgrading beam and floor.

     “And,” she continued, “I get to upgrade my salto piked to straight on floor.”

     “Anything else, your highness?” Austin teased.

     “I’ll think about vault.  I bet I can get it higher, but I also need a better dismount for beam.”

     “Well in that case, let’s head to my office and start working out your floor routine to fit in the upgrades.”  The trio sat in Sasha’s office for another hour before Payson had to leave to shower.  Austin drove her home, picking out a suit while she showered, and hopping in the shower when she was getting into Kim’s car and driving to the studio.  As soon as they arrived, Ronnie was ushering them backstage.  They would be opening the show with their red carpet look and closing with their beach look, and she wanted their hair and makeup to be done as soon as possible.  They complied, though Payson was not quiet in her grumbling, and were getting dressed by the ten-minute call.  Payson peeked out the curtain and saw Austin and Sasha standing together against the wall.  Sasha was in a black suit with no tie, and Austin was in charcoal dress pants with a white dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to expose his arm muscles.

     “Alright girls!  Showtime!” Ronnie called out.  Payson sighed, buckling the straps of her nude Louboutains.  She and Kim were standing directly behind the curtain, waiting for Ronnie to announce them.  As soon as she did, they were walking down the runway.  The feeling of everyone watching her made Payson tense, but she heard Austin whistle.  Laughing, she tossed her hair over her shoulder, turned to look his way, and blew a kiss.  From that point, she was much more comfortable, laughing and goofing off with her mom.

When they got backstage to change into their beachwear, Payson looked tempted to run, but Lauren showed up, grabbing her and pulling her to an isolated corner.

“I know what you’re thinking Keeler, and you do not get to bail on me now.”

“Easy for you to say, not only do you not have to wear this stupid bikini, but you’re hot and confident and good at all this girly stuff!”

“Listen up, neither of us want to be here.  You’re feeling insecure – for reasons I don’t understand because hot damn girl – and I don’t want to deal with Summer trying to bond, but we’re here because we want to go to Nationals, and we want to win Nationals. So here’s what’s going to happen; we’re getting through this together.  We are going to work the hell out of that runway, pull in huge bids, prove that you’ve got nothing to be self-conscious about, and kick some major ass in Boston.  What do you say, Keeler?”

Payson grinned, holding out her hand for a fist bump. “You’ve got yourself a deal, Tanner.”

Lauren smiled back, the most genuine smile she’d had in days.  “I’ve got to go get things fired up, but when I come back you’d better be ready for me to do your hair.”  She shoved Payson over to the clothing racks, where the next outfits were waiting, and joined Summer on the runway for her ‘business casual’ walk.

All too soon, Lauren was done, the fashion show was almost done, and it was only minutes away from being time for Payson’s nightmare.

“Alright Keeler, stop covering up.  Time for you to go on out there and show everyone that Payson Keeler is more than just the next National Champ.  C’mere,” Lauren grabbed Payson by the arm, gesturing Kaylie over.  The two girls quickly unbuttoned her shirt, placed her sunglasses on top of her head, and braided her hair.

“Give them hell, Pay.”  Kaylie nudged her teammate to the curtains after the girls had deemed her ready.

What felt like only seconds later, she was stepping back through the curtains, being pulled to the gymnasts’ corner of the room by Lauren and Kaylie – Emily was somewhere arguing with her mother.

“So, it wasn’t as bad as you expected, was it?” Lauren whisper-shouted.

“Honestly Lo, I don’t remember it.  I just remember wanting to strangle Mrs. Cruz for putting me in this outfit.”

“Yeah, I think we’re all feeling that right about now,” Kaylie agreed bitterly.

“But oh my god, Pay, people were loving it!  Austin was cheering way more than he did for the rest of us, and he wasn’t the only one!” Lauren gushed.

“Austin likes to tease me, we all know that.  He was probably just enjoying my humiliation.”

“Even if he was, we were watching and you nailed it, I swear,” Kaylie was quick to reassure her.

“Ladies, time to mingle!” Ronnie called over all of the backstage noise.

“Seriously, we have to socialize now too?”

“I know you just want to go back to training but let’s piss off my mom first?”

“What do you have in mind?” Payson asked, knowing that she would agree to whatever the plan was.

“Pull on your sweats, girls, and let’s go mingle.”

The three girls giggled as they pulled on their spare workout clothes, all baggy sweats and shirts with holes, making sure to look as dishevelled as possible.

“Well don’t you ladies clean up nicely,” Austin teased, approaching the three girls as soon as they stepped into the room.

“Just for you, of course,” Lauren retorted.

“Seriously though, you girls rocked it up there.”  All three girls groaned, with Payson slapping his chest for the pun.

“Of course we did, have you seen us?” Kaylie smirked, before walking away to, Lauren presumed, talk to Carter.

“I’ve got to go talk to my dad, I’m sure he wants to hear all about the ‘bonding time’ I had with Summer.”  Lauren rolled her eyes and headed towards her father, leaving Payson and Austin alone.

“Sasha, get over here!”  Austin called out, seeing the coach talking with some reporter.

Sasha excused himself immediately, joining his gymnasts with a relieved grin.  “Thanks for that, I haven’t had nearly enough beer to make all this schmoozing tolerable.”

“So Pay, there’s something we wanted to talk to you about…” Austin began.

“I already agreed to no more bar upgrades, what else do you want from me?”  The girl sighed, knowing that Austin’s hesitation could not end well for her.

“It’s not about your routines, it’s about the passing out,” Sasha told her.

“Yeah, well Ronnie Cruz is full of hot air, it must have dehydrated me.  Oh, if you’ll excuse me – or even if you won’t, honestly – I haven’t had a chance to talk to Becca in days,” Payson told them, dodging the conversation and grabbing her sister.

“Quick, Becs, pretend you’re talking to me, I’m avoiding Austin.”

“You know what, I’m not even going to ask…  Have I told you about my vault upgrade?”

A week later, life at the Rock had returned to normal, well, as normal as life ever was at the Rock.

“Hey, have you seen Emily lately?”  Kaylie asked Payson, noticing that the fourth elite girl had been absent for several days.

“No, I wonder what’s up with that,” Payson mused, having hardly paid attention to anything other than gymnastics.

“I need my elite girls in my office.  Now!” Sasha called from the top of the stairs.

The three girls walked over together, sitting stiffly on the couch.

“Why are we in here?” Payson asked immediately.  “We haven’t broken any rules, we’ve all been on top of our game prepping for Nationals, and there haven’t been any wild keggers lately.”

Sasha shot her a glare, never impressed by his girls’ insubordination, but Payson was unapologetic.  “I’m sure you’ve noticed that Miss Kmetko has been absent recently?”

“Yes, there’s much less complaining about how unfair everything is,” Lauren informed him.  None of the elites had appreciated Emily’s attitude; she may have come in at a disadvantage but she chose to whine about it rather than put in extra work.

“I’m sure there is,” he remarked dryly.  “This information isn’t meant to be known yet, but I don’t want the three of you to be caught off guard.  Emily has transferred to Denver Elite, due to a clause in her contract, something legal that I didn’t care to listen to Marty explain.”

“So basically, Emily’s gone to Denver, and we compete against Denver in a week and we all know about it even though it was meant to be a secret, and you didn’t want someone spilling the beans about Emily and messing with our game so close to the meet?” Kaylie confirmed.

“Yes, precisely.  We will all be under intense scrutiny at this meet, so I need you all to focus.  You’ve all got some upgrades to work on, and I expect to see significant progress before you leave tonight.  Lauren, I want that tucked Arabian salto worked until you’re always staying on the beam, no wobbles whatsoever.  Kaylie, you need to keep your momentum up on your front tuck.  Payson, you won’t be able to land your split leap one and a half until you get more height, fix it.  Understood?”  The three girls nodded.  “Good, now get out there and get to work.”

“Well someone’s tense.” Lauren broke the silence once the office door had closed behind them.

“One of his elites just transferred to train with his biggest rival.  I know there must have been legalities with the scholarship or whatever, but it’s going to reflect badly on Sasha, and if we don’t nail it next week, it could make Marty look like the better coach, which reflects badly on him but will also affect the way we’re judged at Nationals.”

“We know, Pay, we’re all force fed the politics of the sport thanks to my _darling_ dad and Mr. Tanner,” Kaylie reminded her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to get all know-it-all, I’m just frustrated with my split leap.  I can’t get any more height,” Payson vented.

“Well hey, let us help.  We can take turns working on our problem areas and giving each other feedback and then judge the full routines?” Lauren suggested.

“Works for me,” Payson shrugged, and Kaylie nodded in agreement.  “Where do you want to start?”

“Can we start with my vault?”

Both blondes nodded, and the trio made their way across the floor; Lauren and Payson stood by the horse with Kaylie at the start of the run.

After watching Kaylie attempt her vault, the blondes went to help her up from where she fell on the mat.

“Kay, is the springboard too close to the horse?” Lauren asked.  “You’re slowing down like you think you’re going to hit it.”

“I never really thought of it, but maybe?  Should we see if Jake can spot me and try pulling it out a couple of inches?”

“I heard my name, what’s up?” Jake asked, having been waved over by Lauren.

“I want to try my vault with the board back two inches and Sasha would kill me if I didn’t have a spotter, so I was hoping you might be free?”

“You’re in luck, it’s an hour until my next class,” he grinned, adjusting the board and shooing Kaylie to the start of the run.

The brunette took a deep breath before setting off at a sprint.  She hit the springboard and launched herself into a handstand, and managed to keep from falling, although it was a very close call.

She bounced onto her toes with a grin, turning to her friends.

“How was that?”

“That was so much better, Kay!  We’ll definitely have to tell Sasha that you changed it!  Ready to run it a few more times?”

A few turned into a dozen, and then the girls made their way to the beam for Lauren to work.

“Okay,” Payson began after watching her, “You’re not twisting until you’re already starting to land so your center of gravity is way off- you should try twisting sooner.”

“Okay that feels better but it’s still not perfect and Sasha wants perfection.

“Keep working at it with the earlier twist and I’m sure it’ll come to you!”

Lauren nodded, getting back into position.  Several repetitions later, she was keeping her balance, so she moved on to running through her entire routine to make sure that she maintained the same level of perfection.

“Spruce Juice run and then Pay’s turn?” Lauren asked, hopping off the beam when lunch time came.

Kaylie agreed instantly and Payson, unsure of how to get out of Spruce Juice, nodded too.  The three gymnasts pulled their tracksuits on and they left the building.

Returning to the gym, Payson still carrying her unfinished smoothie, they stripped down to their leos and made their way to the floor, where Payson got into position.

Watching her stumble through the messiest element she’d ever seen Payson do, Lauren figured out what was wrong.

“Pay, get over here!” She called out.

“What’ve you got for me, Lo?” Payson asked, jogging over to her friends.

Rather than answering in words, Lauren handed Payson her smoothie, staring her down until she finished it.

“Stretch out and do it again,” she ordered.

Confused, Payson moved back to her position, running and launching herself into the split leap and, for the first time, staying on her feet.

“Well that was still messy, but you did it!” Kaylie exclaimed when Payson joined them for feedback.

“That doesn’t make any sense, I didn’t do anything different.”

“You had the smoothie,” Lauren pointed out.  “You weren’t getting enough height because your energy was too low.  Go, keep running it.”

Payson obeyed, running the isolated element close to two dozen times before incorporated it into her routine. Soon she was landing it consistently and neatly, though still lacking the typical Payson Keeler perfection, but she was satisfied enough to lead the girls back to the vault for Kaylie to show Sasha her vault.  Each girl showed off their improvements, and despite getting little more than a nod from Sasha, they all knew that they had done better than he had expected in so little time.

“Well since Mr. Grumpy won’t compliment us, I’ll say it for him.  We did a damn good job,” Lauren told the other two.  “Who wants to celebrate with a Bring It On marathon at my place?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sweet jesus I’m sorry that this took so long! I can give you the generic excuses; college is killing me, I’m in a play that’s taking up all my time, etc. It’s all true but moreover I’m lazy and forget to write. Also this is thirty-three pages long which is double the length of the last chapter and I really don’t know how that happened! I want to promise that the next chapter won’t take so long but that seems like a great way to jinx myself so I’ll just say that I hope it doesn’t. Please feel free to tell me what you think about this, I love getting feedback and it’s what motivates me to write!  
> Buy me a coffee? https://ko-fi.com/A2544BQY

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y’all! So, I’m rewriting this (and a lot of other fics), so hopefully this is better than the original? This was meant to be a sort of exposition, and next we will move on to Like Mother, Like Daughter, Like Supermodel. If you have any suggestions or requests, please let me know! This will mostly follow canon, but there will be some natural changes.  
> Love,  
> Arty


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